


Wayside

by wrenstars



Series: The Roles are Reversed [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka really tests the Council's patience, Alternate Universe, Other, The Council seriously regrets their life choices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 11:33:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8622997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrenstars/pseuds/wrenstars
Summary: The Council does not approve of Ahsoka's approach to having an apprentice.





	

Ahsoka could tell, after the first week of Anakin being apprenticed to her, the Council was already regretting ever having allowed her to take a Padawan - _especially_  one as unconventional as Anakin Skywalker - and were resigning themselves to even more years of groaning and continuous headaches. Qui-Gon had passed the mantle to Ahsoka, and she was doing a very good job of getting under the Council's skin as she constantly broke tradition.

"Master Tano!" Mace Windu yelled, as Ahsoka strode briskly through the temple with a bundle of blankets in her arms. "Skywalker doesn't need coddling - we generally don't wrap our Padawans in blankets to the point they resemble Wampas."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "You exaggerate, Master. Anakin has lived on a desert planet all his life. I'm helping him make a transition to other less scorching climates."

With that she left Mace behind her and ignored his voice calling her back and making further comment on how _inappropriate_ this was but Jedi norms. She didn't listen.

She soon found Anakin shivering in his quarters; he'd raised his knees to his chest and leaned into them, as though they could provide some form of insulation against the damp. They could hear the rain patter on the temple roof, and Ahsoka wondered if it even rained on a planet as dry as Tatooine.

"Here you go, Skyguy," she said, and felt his forehead. SHe didn't want the drastic change in temperature to result in a sudden outbreak of illness.

Anakin smiled and thanked her profusely as he took one of the spare blankets. Swamped in such a large piece of cloth around his shoulders, he looked even smaller than he actually was.

Ahsoka glanced around the quarters, hating how bare they were. She knew all Jedi had the same practically empty room but Anakin, not having possessions meant something quite different. She couldn't just shop in Coruscant to change this, though there were other alternatives she could use.

When the Council eventually found out Ahsoka had started to carve Anakin little trinkets - the Jedi symbol, a speeder, a small model of Coruscant - they had been less than impressed, but didn't do anything other than advise Ahsoka to omit that particular activity from her days. She paid them no heed. After all, what could they do, confiscate harmless and badly crafted trinkets? They weren't technically breaking the Jedi Code, so they couldn't be confiscated, only frowned at.

They were more vocal, however, when they found out she hurried to her Padawan's room if she sensed he had woken up, terrified from a nightmare.

"He's only nine!" she argued sharply, with Mace and Yoda. "He wakes up _terrified_! I can't leave him in such a distressed state."

It had scared Ahsoka, the first time she reached Anakin after sensing his nightmare. He had been crying, and sweat clung to his skin. He'd kept babbling about his mother, and it had taken a good half an hour in Ahsoka's arms with her voice whispering soothing words to calm him down once again. 

"Adjust, he must," Yoda said. "Receive such treatment, the other younglings do not."

"He hasn't been brought up like us, Master! Treat him as though he grew up here and he'll _break_. This is a delicate time for him. He still needs all of the support we can give him."

"How will he learn the importance of not forming attachment if you are always hovering nearby?" Mace questioned, his words as sharp as the edge of a blade.

Ahsoka breathed deeply and counted to ten before she responded. It was an effort to keep her voice steady, though it still maintained a clipped tone.

"You doubt him so much? I assure you, Master, your misgivings are unnecessary. He will learn in time, once this place is not so alien to him, and he has fully adjusted to such a different way of living."

From that moment, the Council seemed resigned to the fact that Anakin Skywalker would not be treated like the average Padawan learner, and retreated from anything but glares when Anakin hugged Ahsoka in the middle of the temple, or when Ahsoka playfully called him Skyguy and let him have time off from either practice or lessons.

"They are frustrated," Plo Koon told Ahsoka, as they observed Anakin practice lightsaber forms with surprising ease considering the short time since he had started (he was a very quick learner, Ahsoka had discovered with a touch of pride). "But they'll leave you alone. I think this will become an ongoing joke in the future."

Ahsoka shrugged. "Let them," she said. Pride fuelled her as she witnessed her apprentice execute every move flawlessly. "I know what's best for my Padawan and I will continue to act accordingly."

From behind his mask, Plo Koon smiled. He felt the same pride watching not-so-little Soka as she did watching Anakin succeed. She had developed wondrously under Qui-Gon, and had matured and grown so much. He clasped her shoulder.

"You're an excellent teacher, little Soka. Skywalker's lucky to have you."

Ahsoka's insides burned with embarrassment and happiness.

Master Plo retreated when Anakin approached Ahsoka, who winked and grinned at him. "Skyguy, you're going to surpass me at this rate," she teased.

They both laughed. "That'll never happen, Master!" Anakin protested between gasps for breath. "You'll always be the greatest Jedi."

"Ha, we still have years ahead of us to see about that."

Ahsoka had no reservations taking Anakin as her apprentice, and even now, she couldn't imagine life without watching him grow and learn each day, become more confident in his abilities, and slowly begin to open himself to others and the Force.

 _You'd be proud, Qui-Gon_ , she thought, and placed an arm around Anakin's shoulders. _Eager, talented, kind and has the tendency to annoy the Council. He's going to amount to great things, I just know it._

**Author's Note:**

> I have the feeling that, thanks to Qui-Gon, Ahsoka too would be quite the unconventional Jedi. While not as reckless as him or Anakin, she'd definitely bend tradition and the Code to do what she thinks is best!


End file.
